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2012 marks the return of Le coq sportif to the roads of the Tour de France. Next summer to celebrate its 130th anniversary, the brand will be supplying all the leaders jerseys- the yellow jersey, green jersey, the polka dot jersey and white jersey.

More than just a partnership, it is also a choice of the heart, evidence that confirms the commitment of Le coq sportif to cycling yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The 2012 yellow jersey is a subtle blend of authenticity and modernity. It incorporates clean lines, fitted sleeves above the elbow, and a flat sewn collar that mirrors the jersey produced by Le coq sportif for the Tour in 1951. The positioning of the logo is directly inspired by the jersey of the Tour 1972, won for the fourth consecutive year by Eddy Merckx

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Yesterday I was introduced to a man named Camille McMillan. I had heard his name before but, honestly, I wasn’t 100% certain on what this man was known for but I was soon schooled. Camille happens to be serious hot-property in world of cycling photography and I should slap myself for not finding this out sooner.

Without knowing I have been looking and admiring his work for some time, in newspapers, magazines and on countless websites and blogs. Now it seems I can put a face to a name and a name to a photograph.

Camille, along with one of Rapha’s original co-founders; Luke Scheybeler has recently set up ‘The Collarbone’ … A ipad/iphone based app featuring Pro-peloton Photo-reportage. I don’t entirely know what it’s going to be, or look like but after googling and finding their Tumblr it’s quite obviously going to be something of exceptional goodness.

Yesterday morning I went along to Stoke for stage 3 of the 2011 Tour of Britain and this is a small selection of the snaps I took whilst there.

It was a great day and the atmosphere was awesome. I must also say that the team village at the depart was in a fantastic location compared to last year. This year it was situated in the beautifully green and picturesque Trentham gardens so big shouts to the organizers for picking out such a great spot for the teams and spectators alike.

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I’ve always been a huge fan of the Levi’s/Raleigh Pro Team bikes(as seen below!), love Levi’s and of course Raleigh is doing great things these days. So when I had the chance to swoop some of these NOS Pro Team Toques, worn by the team during the 80’s, of course I didn’t say no! Now if only someone would make a re-issue kit(hint, hint). Hopefully this Commuter Line will get Levi’s psyched on cycling again and maybe even get them in the mood to co-sponsor another pro team.

We consider ourselves to be gloriously average cyclists. We appreciate the hard rides and the easy ones. Sometimes, we stop for coffee or beer and most of those times we linger a bit longer than you might expect. That is not to say that we do not relish the hard efforts that come with being a cyclist. The long pulls into a headwind or the climbs that dangle in front of you for what seem to be days. We have even found, a few of us, that we enjoy a trip or two over the pavé, or that we feel at home with gravel bouncing off our shins and shoes. Sometimes this makes us a little heady and we get caught up in the beauty and suffering of riding our bicycles, so we tend to think of ourselves as good riders. But that does not mean that for a minute, or second, do any of us think we can hold a candle to the professional peloton, to what it takes to be a professional cyclist. Read on…

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A pal alerted me to this great ( but way too short ) article on pros and their bikes and the fact that things are not always as they seem…

These days it’s possible to have a better bike than the pros. It’ll cost you but an amateur is free to chose what ever they want, from an artisan frame right down to marginal gains like titanium bolts and ceramic bearings. The UCI rules impose a minimum weight of 6.8kg, something that can be beaten quite easily these days, especially with smaller sized frames. It’s got to the point where some bike companies make a virtue of having to add back weight as a way of broadcasting just how light their bikes are…

Reading the comments it says: Boonen raced the ’06 TdF on a steel Pegoretti (and won the green jersey, too) with Specialized stickers. Now I don’t know about the accuracy of that statement but It would be interesting to see a modern pro racing a steel frame… I wonder what they’d make of it.

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I am so grateful of the people who take the time out to upload their photograph collections to the web. Was it not for these people we would not have the great variety of goodness that we do today, and these from xsallyx are no exception.

All taken during the 1970’s in Ohio during what looks like a long and fruitful amateur racing career.

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The trailer to this film looks immense and I am totally looking forward to seeing it on the 21st Oct. You too can watch this film at a cinema near you on the same date. Check this link for details on where it will be screened.

There also seems to be somewhat of a pre screen shindig being organized by the good chaps of Birmingham Fixed Gear, check this link for more details on that.

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ELCYCLISTA.Elcyclista is a journal made for and by those that have a passion for riding, and the culture that goes with it. We also love design (that is our day job), and we look every day for where bike and design culture intersect.

What a great blogsite. Great writing, great photography and great stuff for sale too. I have been pressing ‘older posts’ for way too long now and I am on my lunch break so I should really try to cool off.

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Photographs taken on 12th September during stage 2 of the 2010 Tour of Britain. It was a great day and lovely to see so many people turn out on top of Gunhill! It felt like the Tour de France, with pies.

Rapha and RSA Films present three short films inspired by the people, places and stories of road racing. Johan Museeuw, Sean Kelly and Dario Pegoretti are celebrated in three cinematic portraits exploring the passion, history and drama of the sport.

Based on a trio of story-labels originally found inside the Rapha Club Jerseys, each film brings a new translation: The intense dreamscape of Nick Livesey’s ode to Johan Museeuw, Adrian Moat’s tale of discovery inspired by Sean Kelly and Ben Ingham’s intimate view of Dario Pegoretti in his workshop, all powerful representations of three distinct icons of road racing.

On consecutive Fridays (starting next Friday 13 August) Rapha will be presenting ONE-TIME ONLY screenings of the full-length versions of the films right here on the Rapha website in HD. Do not miss them. Trailers for the features are now online.

The night riders are back in town! Britain’s brightest and best cycle race gets back on the road in Newport, Shropshire, on Saturday September 4th. It’s the return of the original and best floodlit bike race in the country.

About 14,000 spectators have lined the barriers for previous versions of the race. It evolved from the classic Davies & Jeggo Motors Road Race, which brought all the top professionals to Newport for two decades. It was the British professional championship in its final three years as a long-distance event before promoter Michael Jeggo hit on the idea of putting it on as a Nocturne.

The riders snake through the little market town under a combination of streetlights and industrial floodlighting brought in especially for the occasion. They power up the cobbled St Mary’s Street each lap, cheered by the most-knowledgeable crowd in cycling.

Gutted I am, I’d love to reach this but I can’t as I’ll probably be in France again for the annual alpine adventure with the Spinwell Factory racing team.